Arthur Frederick "Solly" Hofman (October 29, 1882 – March 10, 1956) was an American Major League Baseball player from 1903 to 1916. He played the majority of his 1,194 games in the outfield. His nickname was "Circus Solly". Some attribute this name to a comic strip of the era, while others attribute it to spectacular catches while fielding. He is considered by some to be the first great

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

in baseball due to his versatility. In the

1906 World Series The 1906 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1906 season. The third edition of the World Series, it featured a crosstown matchup between the American League champion Chicago White Sox and the National Leagu ...

, Hofman batted leadoff and played center field for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

against their crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox. He had seven hits and three walks during the Series, batting .304. Hofman was the Cubs' center fielder on October 14, 1908 when they defeated the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

2-0 to win the

1908 World Series The 1908 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1908 season. The fifth edition of the World Series, it matched the defending National League champion Chicago Cubs against the American League champion Detroit Ti ...

. He hit .316 for the Series. It was the Cubs' last championship until 2016. In 1,194 games over 14 seasons, Hofman compiled a .269 batting average (1095-for-4072) with 554 runs, 162 doubles, 60

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 19 home runs, 498

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

, 208

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, 421

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, 323

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, .340

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .352

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .966

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

at all positions except catcher. In three World Series covering 16 games (1906, 1908, 1910), he batted .298 (17-for-57) with 7 runs, 8 RBI and 3 stolen bases. He was the uncle of

Bobby Hofman Robert George Hofman (October 5, 1925 – April 5, 1994) was an American infielder, catcher and coach in Major League Baseball. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hofman threw and batted right-handed, and stood 5'11" (180 cm) tall and weighed ...

of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

References

External links

SABR biography
* 1882 births 1956 deaths Pittsburgh Pirates players Chicago Cubs players Brooklyn Tip-Tops players Buffalo Blues players New York Yankees players Major League Baseball center fielders Evansville River Rats players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Nashville Vols players Baseball players from St. Louis {{US-baseball-outfielder-1880s-stub